Vol. 76, No. 2Panel discussion

What’s the role of police in preventing gang membership?

The Panellists

  • Dr. Mark Totten, Professor of Criminal Justice, Humber College, Toronto, and author of Gang Life: Ten of the Toughest Tell Their Stories
  • Cpl. Nicole Noonan, Youth Section, Surrey RCMP, British Columbia
  • Cst. Alan Devolin, Youth at Risk Development Program, Calgary Police Service
  • Commanding Officer François Bleau, Organized Crime division, Special Investigation unit, City of Montreal Police Service

Dr. Mark Totten

I've had the opportunity to work with the RCMP, OPP and various municipal police organizations on gang prevention, exit and suppression projects over the past decade. I've also evaluated three five-year gang projects, funded by the National Crime Prevention Centre.

The good news is that we know what works and what doesn't, based on Canadian and international research. Here are some important lessons that we've learned:

The police can't do it alone. Broad, community-wide partnerships with education, health, child welfare, youth justice, recreation, corrections, addictions and other community groups are essential. True partnerships involve the sharing of resources and information.

Most funds directed at the gang 'problem' in Canada are taken up by police and corrections. Other sectors have an important role to play. We have to figure out how to shift more money into early intervention strategies that identify and support the relatively small number of high-risk young people in any given community.

Without intensive support and supervision, these individuals will become the serious and violent offenders of tomorrow. We can dramatically reduce the rate of serious crime and gang activity in a community by doing this. Most gang members come from families with histories of involvement in gangs and serious crime.

Sharing information between the police and social agencies is critical. The Youth Leading in a Good Way Project in Manitoba and the Regina Anti-Gang Services Project have developed creative protocols on this.

Many correctional facilities are gang-infested. Some inmates become gang-involved because they need protection or access to contraband (such as drugs and cigarettes). It's very difficult for gang members to 'drop their colours' when incarcerated.

And once released, some gang-involved inmates return to their home communities and recruit young people into their gang. We need to find alternatives to incarceration.

School-based policing is important but we need to be smarter about how we deploy resources.Shock-and-awe strategies that attempt to scare kids straight (for example, classroom and assembly presentations on the grim realities of gang life) have proven to be of limited value.

Instead, police need to target the small number of high-risk students by acting as mentors and getting to know their families. Young people who are frequently involved in bullying usually come from dysfunctional families. These are the children we need to focus on.

Gang members typically come from families where violence is the norm. Anything we can do to prevent family violence will have a significant impact on the lives of children.

Prevention does not have to involve new money and specialized programs.Taking ten minutes out of our day to listen to a young person can make a huge difference.

Cpl. Nicole Noonan

Technology is quickly advancing, extending the gap between generations. New immigrants face language and cultural challenges, and many have experienced traumatic events. Canadian-born youth face temptations that their families aren't equipped to deal with. For these reasons and others, some youth turn to gangs.

Even in a large urban setting like Surrey, B.C., it takes a village to raise a child, and those of us who police it are a part of that village. As the times change, so do our traditional roles. Police can choose to take a proactive role in crime prevention and where better to start than trying to prevent youth from joining gangs.

As police officers, we have the unique ability to quickly identify at-risk youth in the community by virtue of our daily duties. The additional role we can easily take on is to build partnerships within the community to assist at-risk youth, and take action by working together.

Young people join gangs for a variety of reasons, but one common theme is that they're empty vessels with no healthy attachment to a positive adult role model. This makes them vulnerable to making poor choices, and falling into the "welcoming" arms of a gang. Police officers can become these pro-social adults, or can help steer at-risk youth toward an existing one.

In Surrey, the school district, the RCMP and the city struck a partnership to respond to youth gangs and violence. The approach aims to keep youth from joining gangs and steering entrenched youth out of gangs.

It's called WRAP. At-risk youth are "wrapped" in resources and teamed with positive adult role models to steer them in a healthy, pro-social direction. While there are two full-time RCMP members dedicated to this program, there are several others who participate part-time and as volunteers.

Youth are referred to WRAP by multiple sources, including school teachers, police officers, probation officers, youth workers, Ministry of Child and Family Development employees, parents and city employees.

Each at-risk youth who's referred is assessed on their individual risk and protective factors, and assigned a case manager. Individual plans are created to build upon the positive influences and reduce the negative. Interventions are customized to the youth and are culturally specific.

With community partners, the identified youth are provided timely and co-ordinated access to pro-social recreational opportunities, therapeutic support, employment training and education until they demonstrate increased stability.

This program shows continued success and is measured by a reduction in negative contact with law enforcement.

Anecdotally, there are countless success stories of youth who were going down the wrong path and were referred to this program. Many of them attribute the positive change in their lives to a police officer who cared about them.

While there are constant challenges, with continued commitment to at-risk youth, collaborative partnerships, pro-active intervention and co-ordinated responses, police can play a critical role in preventing young people from joining gangs.

Cst. Alan Devolin

In 2006, Calgary was experiencing a significant increase in gang-related crime and violence. Much of the violence was between two opposing groups mired in the gang lifestyle.

This violence led to a growing number of homicides, including a Jan. 1, 2009 triple murder, in which an innocent bystander was killed in a local restaurant.

Today, many of the people associated with this gang-related violence are either dead or in jail. However, a long-term, sustainable approach was needed to prevent youth from getting involved in gangs in the first place.

Recognizing this need, the Calgary Police Service (CPS) worked with partners to develop a multi-pronged gang strategy, using education, targeted prevention, suppression, disruption and investigative initiatives.

An important part of this approach was the Youth at Risk Development Program (YARD) launched in 2008 by the CPS and the City of Calgary Community and Neighbourhood Services.

YARD is a community-based, early-intervention initiative that supports youth ages 10 to 17, who are either in gangs or at risk of joining gangs.

Originally funded by the National Crime Prevention Centre (NCPC), the Government of Alberta provided funding from their Civil Forfeiture Fund in 2011 to sustain the community programming costs.

The program has grown from two to four YARD teams, each consisting of a police officer and a registered social worker. With the support of an Alberta Health Service psychologist, they work closely with youth, their families, schools and community agencies to develop individualized case plans, addressing the participant's specific needs and risk factors that are contributing to the at-risk behaviour.

The officers and social workers work together to build positive relationships with youth and help them grow to make good decisions in life.

Once engaged, these young people and their families are provided with a range of services specific to each family's recognized needs. By building upon individual and family strengths, the YARD program aims to decrease the risk factors that were initially acknowledged.

The program has reduced the criminal engagement of many participants and is positively affecting at-risk youth in areas such as constructive use of time, supportive peer groups, improving self-regulation and reducing risk while increasing protective factors.

Of the hundreds of participants and family members involved in the program, the success stories are many.

One youth with an interest in basketball, who could have otherwise fallen through the cracks, was given ongoing mentorship and support. The teen was given the opportunity to travel to the U.S. to participate in a scouting tournament with his youth worker, who also has a background in basketball.

With the support of his youth worker, the teen overcame some challenges to have a successful tournament. Upon his return home, he took on assistant coach duties on a team, and works with basketball camps. He's also been offered a university basketball scholarship.

The YARD program is part of a group of comprehensive strategies, developed with community partners to address the education, prevention, early intervention, treatment and enforcement components associated with increasing safety and reducing crime.

Working closely with all stakeholders in the community, this overall approach helps prevent Calgary's youth from becoming involved in gangs and other criminal activity.

Commanding Officer François Bleau

The City of Montreal Police Service Intensive Follow-Up Program (PSI / Programme de suivi intensif ) was created in 2009.

Over a five-year period, the program monitors youth aged 15 to 25 years who've been convicted of street gang offences and who are at a high risk of reoffending.

The objective is to reduce violent lucrative crime, increase the engagement of youth in pro-social activities and keep a closer eye on our young people. The end goal is to offer them alternatives to a life of violence and crime.

The PSI strategy is based on an integrated approach focusing on enforcement, prevention and clinical intervention. This vision requires that police officers, youth centre social workers, youth/adult probation officers, Crown prosecutors and outreach workers work in partnership. The federally funded project ($2.5 million over five years) is run by the Centre jeunesse de Montréal – Institut universitaire. Stakeholders work together in an effort to reach out to the worst offenders.

An operational committee (the cell) co-ordinates close co-operation among stakeholders to ensure PSI youth are closely monitored and kept in line. Partners are then able to quickly assess/reassess an offender's situation and take appropriate action based on his/her specific needs.

The PSI program is deployed in specific boroughs based on established sociological criteria, including the presence of a sufficient number of local offenders, the availability of outreach agencies and the political will of elected officials. Boroughs were selected in the Montreal area based on these criteria.

The operational committee selects candidates based on their risk of reoffending and the nature of their violent crimes. Selected PSI youth must sign an undertaking before a judge, promising to comply with the PSI program. Failure to comply results in prosecution.

The 18-week program is divided into three equal six-week phases.

Intensive supervision by police officers and youth/adult probation officers. They ensure candidates comply with the conditions of their release. They check to make sure curfews are being respected and conduct random visits to talk to candidates.

Clinical follow-up by social workers. They offer workshops on anger management and pro-social behaviours. The goal is to give them the tools they need to steer clear of criminal activity.

Support. As required, candidates are referred to community resources for support and assistance with reintegration.

Upon completion of the 18-week program, candidates receive recognition.

The goal of the PSI program is to disaffiliate youth from street gangs and reintegrate offenders back into their communities. We're all working toward the same end result through the sharing of knowledge, the synergy of stakeholders and the recognition of respective areas of expertise.

We're preparing a progress report on the PSI program for the fall of 2014. There's been a drop in the number of acts of violence among PSI candidates. For their part, stakeholders now form a more united front in dealing with young offenders.

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